Majestic and Rocky Oman

Trip taken on 3 November 2005, the Eid of Ramadan


Oman is a city geographically located in the Middle East, bordering the Arabian Sea, Gulf of Oman, and Persian Gulf, between Yemen and UAE. People can go there by either driving four hours of desert and mountainous scenes or fly by plane for 45 minutes. Its terrain is mostly central desert plain, rugged mountains in north and south .

I took a trip with a friend taking the road from the UAE. I was supposedly scheduled to go with two persons but they thought we could just go with just passport copies in their hands. That was my plan B. My Original plan was to go with a close friend but some discussions turned sour which made me come up with Plan B but I actually took my original plan. Confusing yeah?

So, on the road, my thoughts were, go back, go back. This is such an unpredictable trip, so much more so the company. So I sat there in the car, tensed, worried, half wanting to go, half wanting to go back. I was hesitant but my itchy feet really needed a break from the malls of UAE. The four days of Eid was a blessing for all city dwellers. I had the option to go to Qatar but was indecisive. Oman was actually the best choice. Oman provides the rocky formations that makes Oman inviting to those of us living mostly in cities surrounded by sand dunes and endless sights of deserts.

Eventually, after some chitchat in the car, I felt at ease and was actually excited to go to Oman. We passed by the borders of UAE before reaching Oman, went on a short queue, then took the road again and reached the Oman border where we need to get our visas. There were lots of people getting visas too. We took our line in the long queue and took time to observe people around. Amongst us were mostly Indians and a few British families. There were two cute Arab gays (I presumed Lebanese) drooling and discussing a woman's bottom on the ladies' queue, she was holding a red passport. In the Philippines, if your passport is red it means you are a Diplomat. I still have to find out which country has red passport. Oh you might be wondering how I would assume two men who are discussing a nearby woman's behind to be gays? Oh you can never mistake two gays together to be something else. They are gay. From the way they talk, the way they stand, the way they hold their passports. One was wearing a pink colored shirt with flowers all over it and the other one was wearing normal shirt and jeans but yeah, don't fool me, they are gay.

So, after a few hours more of driving, we finally arrived to our Dream Resort destination, we had to call them like three of four times tog et their exact location. We registered at the hotel called Dream Resort (it was the last resort as the decision to go with Plan A was filled with lots of apprehension)and went to our room. The first impression that met me was the smell of dogs. The room smelled like somebody kept it as a dog area before we moved in it. Yuck.

So, anyways, it was late at night and we had to look for food. The first option was to go and dine at the Golden Oryx. My host said it serves the best Seafood and is always frequented by tourists and locals. However, they said they are fully booked for the night and we cannot therefore take our dinner there. So the second best option was another restaurant named Golden Dragon. After freshening up we went to the Restaurant. On the road there, we were coming from Seeb area, there were areas that were so eeriely quiet. It almost seemed cemetery-like. And so ghost stories were brought up. My companion said, when he was there before and he drove late one night, he was driving with his windows open so he could savor the breeze of the ocean, then when he was in the middle of silent grounds, two big dogs just suddenly appeared out of nowhere and started barking at his car. He was so aghast and so frightened. Yikes.

Golden Dragon isn't really a golden dragon literally, it was almost green brown or something. But the food was very good, as promised. The fish with sweet and sour sauce was yummy and distinctly delicious.

As the night went deeper, we headed back to our hotel which was much farther than when we first noticed. And we eventually got lost on our way there. We could not find any person who could tell us where it was, we asked the locals to point us the direction of the sea because our hotel was just in front of the vast Arabian Sea in the Seeb area, but my companion was at a loss when he asked directions from the local, whose hand gestures were as confusing as probably his reply. So we headed back to the road which we came in and took the road that we should really have taken, it was a long route, why we got lost is because we wanted to take the short cut. The same short cut that got us lost.

The next day, we toured Oman. We headed to the pier, we saw the mountains which most of them have towers, like those you see in the old days where the warriors or guards await to fight the enemies from neighboring countries or cities. Oh the Ottoman Empire keeps on ringing in my mind. Is that related? Anyways, here is a link to the Oman History just for reference purposes.



Then we took a road that leads to the end of the road. That's what they call it. It sounded romantic and at the same time adventurous. Like you know, spending some time with someone till the end of nowhere. When do you ever get the chance of being that open to someone? It seemed so much of an upheaval for me. Like the stoic mountains that surrounded the area, the vast deep blue Arabian Sea that calls on to lovers to probably declare love to each other forever, but I was not there for that. I was there because I needed something. Something to soothe my restless mind, my scathing soul. It was more of a respite than anything else. The mountains reflect a stoic and persevering history of people, places, a monument of how strong something can be. Its like a symbol of how great something is but you only have to see it to know it. Oh, like the silly me always, I wept when the car went up on a higher altitude where I can bask the view of almost everything, everything that I have not seen before. Its like you are on top of the world and in between everything else. I don't know what it is really but I cried in deep exhiliration of what I felt when I was on the road which lead to the end of the road and the beginning of Shangrila.



For more pictures... visit Oman Pictures

It was a beautiful trip altogether. Something I will remember by.